158 Sport and Life. 



Much has been written about the fleetness of the antelope, no 

 animal, not even the fleetest greyhound, being able, so it is said, to 

 overtake it. That this is not always true I can state with some 

 positiveness, for I know that occasionally one strikes bands of 

 antelope that can be overtaken on a moderately fast horse. I have 

 done so on several occasions, killing one or two out of the 

 band with my six-shooter. Another circumstance for which it is 

 difficult to offer a reasonable explanation is the obstinacy they 

 evince in continuing their course in a straight line, irrespective 

 of the obvious danger into which it takes them. Many a time, when 

 riding in a file over the steppes of Wyoming or Montana, a string 

 of antelope would be seen in the distance making at right angles 

 for the buffalo trail along which we were riding. If we kept on at 

 an even pace the herd would do the same, sometimes crossing the 

 trail less than icoyds. in front or at the rear of our small column. 

 In one instance, I distinctly remember, a four-horse waggon 

 followed our party at an interval of not more than i5oyds. or, at the 

 most, 2ooyds. A band of antelope, numbering between twenty 

 and thirty head, actually crossed the trail in this gap without 

 evincing much fear, and as if nothing could turn them from the line 

 they had once decided upon. 



Another curious trait about the antelope is their faculty to 

 shed tears when in pain or in a state of great alarm. Though I 

 have never seen tears actually streaming from their eyes, I have 

 noticed unmistakable tears in their large beautiful eyes when 

 wounded. Caton recites a very curious instance in his own 

 experience which is well worth quoting. This is what he says : 



Our antelope has the faculty of weeping when in affliction. I first 

 observed this in a specimen which had been taken wild when adult, and 

 still retained all its natural fear of man. -I had placed him in a close cage 

 in the evening," intending to familiarise him with my presence, and divest 

 him of his fears when he saw me, by convincing him I would not hurt 

 him. When I approached him the next morning he seemed struck 

 with terror, and made frantic efforts to break out, which he soon found 

 was impossible. His great black eyes glistened in affright. I spoke 



